Classic Marshall Tones at small volume

Hey guys,

I really like (older) Marshall tones (Bluesbreaker / JTM45 / Plexi) and wanted to upgrade my rig to reach some of these tones.

The big problem is that I'm living in a student residence with pretty thin walls and the only time I find to play guitar is pretty late in the night.

The first solution is to change my amp. I'm currently on an Orange CR12 and the marshall equivalent at this time is the MG something, which, let's admit, does not sound pretty good. I've done a little bit of research; and found some cool little amps, like the Marshall Class 5 and the 1 watters serie Marshall did for their 50th anniversary (JMP1; JTM1, etc). Sadly; they are no longuer produced so I can't try them out, and apparently they are (especially the C5) too loud for playing at home.

The second solution would be to swap to a CODE amp. But I'm not a big friend of digital amps; and there are not a lot of critics out there so it's pretty difficult to get an opinion.

The third solution would be to get a good OD pedal (I was thinking about a Catalinbread DLS or a Wampler Plexidrive) and to stick it in front of my current amp.

The last solution would be to get a house, and that's definitivelly not possible :-)

What do you think? ANy other suggestions?

Thanks for helping! Greetings Yann

part of the sound is the loudness.... the DLS gets horsehoes and handgrenades close as does the newest version of the plexidrive and Xotic's SL drive, but no cigar.... its as much about the speakers and cabinets as anything, plus the clean up and dynamics just can't be replicated by anything less than a similar amp... if you GO DLS it won't sound its best unless you have a blackface fender, Nic voiced them for the deluxe reverb.

I'm kind of an authority as I have owned plexis, JMPs, clones/boutiques and toured them extensively... nothing quite like it....

solution 3 is your best bet.... or joina band with a dedicated rehearsal space where you can actually use the thing as it was intended to be used.... I gotta tell you I almost NEVER even had my superleads in my home, they were usually at the rehearsal space or studio because they are just a pointless amp for playing alone.... oh, and get an attenuator like a hotplate in case angry soundmen are shouting at you to turn down from 10.... up to -4dB attenuation sounds pretty okay and better than digital modelling or an ampinthebox pedal to my ear

or you can get a bluesbreaker or similar amp like a traynor and rebias her for 6V6es, that will take you where you wanna go, though you'll have to be aware that it will cause an impedance mismatch and possibly eat tubes without additional modding, but the JTM45 works pretty well with 6V6es due to the GZ34 rectifier nd the fact that it original used KT66es, a beam trtrode like the 6V6 versus the alter plexi sound that uses the EL34, a true pentode with a very different character to a 6_6 type tretrode....

have you tried any matchless amps?

Thanks for the reply!

I've heard about the DSL, but it's more focused on modern tones.

I'm a bit perplex about the third solution. These are high quality pedals; my amp is rather cheap. I'm not sure if it will sound as good.

If I could, I would go JTM or Super Lead; sadly I haven't got the money and the space. How loud are these things with attenuators btw?

No, I didn't know Matchless Amps and haven't tried some (there is only one dealer in Germany). Are they Plexi / Marshall clones of some sort?

No, I meant the dirty little secret (DLS), the channel switching amrshalls like the DSL are junk and not worth talking about... marshall's last really good designs were the single channel 800s, 900 SLX and the rare Studio 15, though those amps are different shades of 80s arena marshall, not a lot of cream and free tones in them

no, matchless does not make a complete clone of anything, the model I was going to suggest is a unique design with a marshally flavor that breaks up at reasonable volumes, but it costs more than a plexi reissue so never mind.... if you don't have a budget just forget about early marshall tones; old ones, RIs and boutique clones have really gotten pricey the last 15 years.... back when I was acquiring amrshalls in the late 90s and early 2000s there were still deals to be found, but these days? ugh

work with what you have and be yourself.... when I was collecting old amrshalls years ago I stumbled on a 62 ac30 for a reasonable price and vox has defined my sound ever since... I wasn't thinking it would replace the marshalls in my affection, I just got it because I'm a beatles fan and it was more of a piece of memorabilia for me at the time.... but after bonding with it I went on to buy vox after vox and currently own 3 ac30s and NO marshalls

I would suggest a late 60s or early 70s traynor as an alternative, but the prices are getting steep on those too, especially in Europe and the UK

People seem to like the 1 watt marshalls and having tried them I thought they had very good voices all their own, but only the 800 version really evokes its namesake, the others are just good sounding bedroom amps

unless you're going to be a session musician you should just focus on your own sound and being the ebst you that you can be, bonding with whatever gear you can afford and building a signature tone around it

oh, and 50 to 100 watts is loud as fuck pushed o full bore distortion even thru inefficient speakers with 2 to 4 db attenuation... LOUD

I still have a 50 watt traynor and even attenuated a bit thru really inefficient light magnet celestions it peels the paint off the walls by 3 on the volume dial... its fun, but I have to be in the right mood to play it at home

Yes; everything after the JCM 800 is not really what I'm searching. The new Marshall combos are too specific. DSL is, as already said, to modern and the MG is junk (a friend of mine got an older one and it ages pretty badly). Speaking of modern amps; have you ever tried the Haze series ?

work with what you have and be yourself.... when I was collecting old amrshalls years ago I stumbled on a 62 ac30 for a reasonable price and vox has defined my sound ever since... I wasn't thinking it would replace the marshalls in my affection, I just got it because I'm a beatles fan and it was more of a piece of memorabilia for me at the time.... but after bonding with it I went on to buy vox after vox and currently own 3 ac30s and NO marshalls

Ok great! I really like Vox a well; got one of these little Pathfinders (I know, can't compare them to AC30s) and I'm pretty happy with them. But the point is as you beeing a Beatles fan, I'm more a Zep / Jeff Beck / Free / Deep Purple fan. And their distortion is mainly coming from Marshall amps. And the Marshall tone is different to the Vox or Orange tone.

I've checked out the traynor amps. The problem with older amps is that you can't find them anymore.

I'm a fan of ALL music, but the ac30 was a reat find being form the eyar the boys got their black ac30s

dude, page used everything, LZ1 is a supro, had one, cool amp, very pagey, on trick poney but what a trick

LZ2 had a solid state ric amp, a hybrid vox UL series like the beatles used on Revolver (you can ehar it allover the track particularly in living loving maid) and a little marshall superlead, maybe an early matamp orange and of course little supros again

LZ3 and 4 have more marshall but also lots of ac30 as well as an even smaller 5 watt supro practice amp sort of like a fender champ that delivered the stairway solo.... subsequent albums used even more ac30

live page started with a superlead and sound city (think the who's hiwatt), switched to a custom hiwatt (many people think that's his best tone, its pretty nice), then back to the marshall though heavily modded for more headroom, there were some orange 120s ons tage though maybe just for theremin, dunno.... then after zep he went ac30 and fendercustomshop amps for awhile as well as those petersbiurg amps that are basically communist JCM800s on steroids... now he uses a mix of orange ad30s which are basically gained up ac30 copies and orange custom shop 50 waters that seem to be a lot like the original oranges with the cathodyne phase splitter and baxandall tone stack

the consistent thigs in his rig are really the tonebender fuzz and EP3 delay... he elaves them on a lot of the time and works his volume controls.... the amps changed a lot, his technique and primitive effects are most of his sound... Page ahs been really open about his settings for stage amps being 'just on the edge of breakup'.... heavier distortion is more the fuzz and the lift you gt from the famous echoplex preamp circuitry

some of the other bands you want to emulate are a lot more stereotypical plexi stuff... ut there's more to emulating these sounds than just getting a plexi so don't stress over your amp.... any decently made tube amp will usually get you a good guitar sound

I eman, I got the 1st ac30 as a beatles guy, but I have almost NEVER copped a beatles tone from it except in jest, I actually tend to play my voxes at above 5 on the volume and favor the normal channel over the top boost, I embraced them because they do MY sound, not because I could get my hero's sound... though I admit I own a brain may treble boost and sometimes get my Queen on when no one is around to hear it

sorry, I am totally rambling at you today... I have a cold and can't get my thoughts straight

anyway, maybe buy yourself one of those little JTM1s, they soud good in their own right and have righteous crunch at bedroom level

Haha I know this was coming ... :-) I'm conscient that Page used/uses a lot of different gear; the tone I was refering to was his TSRTS tone, were he used Marshalls.

Supros are superb; had the chance to try one out; great tone. Sadly, they are very expensive ... I also agree with the fact that Pages Hiwatt period was the best one. The live at the Royal Albert Hall is a masterpiece; "C'mon Everybody" and "Bring it on home" are the 2 songs which make me start playing guitar .

I also quite like the Celebration Day tones. I've read somethere that he only used 2 Orange AD amps, the rest was show off

I eman, I got the 1st ac30 as a beatles guy, but I have almost NEVER copped a beatles tone from it except in jest, I actually tend to play my voxes at above 5 on the volume and favor the normal channel over the top boost, I embraced them because they do MY sound, not because I could get my hero's sound... though I admit I own a brain may treble boost and sometimes get my Queen on when no one is around to hear it Who doesn't want to sound like his guitar hero? Especially for persons who started playing guitar recently, they only play songs from bands and not their own (well that's my case; two years since I picked up a guitar and I still paly music from other persons)

sorry, I am totally rambling at you today... I have a cold and can't get my thoughts straight Not a problem! I wish you a speedy recovery.

anyway, maybe buy yourself one of those little JTM1s, they soud good in their own right and have righteous crunch at bedroom level Well I'll see if I can try one out somewhere before paying 500e.

the AD30 is a slightly modified ac30, its a little fuzzier with more precise control of the mids at the expense of some jangle set clean.... at full bore the AD lacks the clarity of a good vox ac30 or matchless c30.... I have voxes and a matchless, a guy I played in a band bought a 1st run AD single channel like page's after I started using the matchless live with my old plexis and it does that zep reunion and page/plant on mtv thing in spades, but its not as versatile overall as a vox.... now, a customclassic ac30 is voiced too bright (more like an ac50 mk2) to do the page thing, you will want a 90s reissue or fawn tolex handwired for a pagey sound... I have played through just about every era f ac30, see my review for more info if that's a sound you are interested in... I'm an ac30 expert having been inside lots of them. Such a great amp.